The HEXIE BOM: June!

How about a sweet flower for June? Our yard is full of all kinds of blooms. Look closely and you'll see a cute ladybug in the center of my flower. When I was growing up I loved ladybugs. I named them all "Susan." Who knows why?

What color will your flower be? I added some purple to mine, mainly because I thought my quilt needed a bit of purple!

As I hinted last week, I've been working on my sashing. I'm using half square triangle units that measure 3 1/2" square (finish at 3").  So now HALF my quilt top is done!

Not a great picture, but you get the idea. Now is a great time to decide on your sashing! There's nothing worse than ending a year with a stack of blocks that sit around your sewing room for months. If you do a bit a sashing as you go along, at the end of the year you'll have a finished quilt top, not just some blocks. So get busy! And share what you're doing!

Other sashing ideas:
-3 1/2" squares
-3 1/2" x 15 1/2" strips with 3 1/2" squares for the cornerstones.
-Flying geese, anyone?

Can't wait to see these quilts come together!

Vintage Hexie Quilt

Isn't this a BEAUTY!!! The design is not typical of most hexagon quilts of this vintage - stars and flowers both! It's a scrap lover's dream, with every color in the rainbow, plus some black. And it is all beautifully hand quilting around every single hexie. That's a LOAD of hand work!

Here are some close up shots:

Magnificent, isn't it? And no damage anywhere.

I've made a recent decision to start a hexagon quilt collection - I want several older quilts to show along with my modern quilts when I speak to groups. And this is my first acquisition! I adore it! It was a real find - I don't have the budget to spend much on old quilts but this one was very reasonably priced.

I'm in total LOVE with it!

Silicone Hexie Potholders

Okay, I'll admit it. My name is Julia and I'm a hexie-holic.

On my recent trip to Minnesota, Daughter 2 and I made a Walmart stop so she could stock up on essentials. And I ended up with these.

Most people would come home from a trip with a hat or t-shirt, maybe a magnet or shot glass. I came home with two silicone potholders/trivets. :)

YELLOW Hexies!

YELLOW is the color of the day around here! I love to run a pile of scraps through my Accuquilt die cutter, giving me a new pile of circles to work with. For those of you new to the blog through the AMB Blog Tour, I offer a free hexie Block of the Month pattern - I post a new pattern on the first day of every month. See the tabs at the top of the blog to get the previous patterns for this year. It's not too late to get started! These patterns are very quick and easy! AND we'd love to have you join us at our Yahoo group here: 2014hexiebom-subscribe@yahoogroups.com where everyone can share pictures of their blocks.

Have you started thinking about sashing for your BOM quilt yet? I have! In fact over the weekend I started working on mine. I'll show you what I'm doing on June 1 when I share the June block! Can't wait - are you ready?

I'm so excited that my new book, MORE Quick and Easy Hexie Quilts will be out this Fall - I know you'll love all the fresh patterns.

But there's something else going on behind the scenes here in Hexieland that gets me OVER THE TOP excited!!! Stay tuned...this is going to be BIG!

Hexies on the Road!

On our long drive from Alabama to Minnesota last week, my daughter and I took turns driving. We did two hours shifts, getting out to stretch when we swapped. When it was her turn to drive, I HEXIED! Yes, I did! Some small ones here...

And some BIG ones here! Amazing what I got done on the road...

Loved this common site in Iowa and Minnesota....lots and LOTS of farms. Lots and LOTS of farm land.  A house, a barn, and a few silos. So many SILOs! Loved seeing these sites along the way.

Show and Share: Hexie Pug Quilt!

It's been a whirlwind around here in Hexie Land! Last Wednesday I spoke to The Hummingbird Quilt Guild in Hogansville, GA. What fun! They are small in number, but big in attitude and talent.

One member of the group (Vallarie) sent me pictures of a hexie quilt she made in a class. I can tell it's made from half hexagons. When she finished the top, she felt it need something more - just a little something....

So she put a pug in the middle of each flower!

How cute is that?

Let sleeping pugs lie...in a hexie flower!

Thanks so much, Vallarie, for sharing this with me! 

Thursday I left with one of our daughters to drive from Alabama to Rochester, Minnesota.  We did it in three days. She's doing a Pharmacy internship at Mayo this summer. I flew home Sunday. Yes, I made lots of hexies in the car and in the airport. I happened to be seated in the MSP airport near some quilters who questioned what I was doing. So we had an impromptu hexie class while waiting for our plane! Hexies are contagious.

I'm still stitching the June block together. Can you believe June is almost here?! I keep thinking I'll get ahead on these blocks, but I never do!

Tomorrow there will be a big giveaway on my other blog - so check it out! 

Just realized I used a lot of exclamation marks in this post!!!!!!!!!!!

Show and Share Hexie Quilt: Lakeside Picnic!

Hope you all had a lovely Mother's Day weekend! I did! I'm so grateful for my fabulous daughters - you are both strong, beautiful, and oh so smart! I has been a joy being your mother.

Today I'm sharing my Lakeside Picnic quilt. I had some friends see this quilt and say, "YOU made that?!" Most of my quilts are more modern than this and they were shocked that a traditional quilt came out of my head and my hands! I love traditional and I love modern - what can I say? I especially love the hexie border here.

The pattern for Lakeside Picnic is in Quick and Easy Hexie Quilts.

I want to take a moment to thank you all for following me here - it means so much to me to get your wonderful comments and just to know you are out there supporting me from near and far! Hexie Love to all of you!

I've been working with my editor this week on my new book, MORE Quick and Easy Hexie Quilts. We're getting closer! I think the quilts will make you very happy indeed! AND I'm working on a special little feature for the book that will come in VERY handy!

Have a great day!

Show and Share: An Adorable Wall Hanging

I received this photo and e-mail recently:

Hi Julia,  This is the little wall hanging I put together--the only really different idea is the leaves.  Hope you like them.  I am designing another quilt with hexies that I am calling an Asian Spring as I am using up some Asian fabrics I have collected over the years. 
 I am looking forward to purchasing your new book, let me know when it is ready.  Thanks, jeanie

Great job, Jeanie, and thanks for sharing!

Sunday Show and Share!

Is this not a show stopper?! This is Hexie Mania, designed and made by my co-author for Quick and Easy Hexie Quilts, Dr. Peggy Rhodes. If you zoom in on the picture, you'll see that it's made from Kaffe Fassett's gorgeous fabrics. While writing the book together, I "sold" Peggy on the fabrics - she soon loved them as much as I do and went on to use them in this quilt. By the way, this is a king size quilt! Huge!

One of the best things about this quilt is that it is quilted as you put it together. Yes, anyone can make this, even if you don't ever quilt your on tops! This is so easy and fun! The pattern is in our book, available on the sidebar.

Have you seen me on Quilting Arts TV? I'm on Episode 1308. I know it's already been on in many areas of the US. We're a bit behind here in Alabama, so it hasn't hit the airways yet. Hexie Mania is one of the projects I talked about on the show. If you're not in the US, you could always order the Season 13 DVD if you want to watch.

I forgot to mention: I'll be teaching Hexie Mania at the AQS Quilt Show in Chattanooga in September - come join me!

The HEXIE BOM: May!

A Butterfly!

I don't know about you, but I've been seeing a LOT of butterflies in my yard lately - a sure sign of Spring! What colors will your butterfly be?

What's that little hexie on top? I wanted to add antennae to my butterfly! So I searched through my stash looking for something that would work.  I decided to play a bit and use some thermometers from a piece of conversation fabric - haha! I had to do a bit of piecing to get two in the same hexie. I picked a fabric that has a white background so it will blend in with my big background square.

You may choose to leave this hexie off. You might want to embroider antennae. Or forget about antennae all together! Anything goes!

HAVE FUN!!!